Australian-first commission explores community building through art and architecture

The University of Queensland's iconic sandstone towers will be reflected in the colours of Athens-based artist and architect, Andreas Angelidakis 's latest high-profile project. DEMOS (Sandstone) will be launched at The University of Queensland Art Museum on 3 August and comprises 50 large, lightweight, vinyl-covered blocks which will be reconfigured to form seating, a stage, study spaces, walls, monuments, archways and ruins. UQ Art Museum Senior Curator Peta Rake said that while the term demos refers to the Athenian foundations of democracy, where only some citizens were allowed to speak, Angelidakis's project disrupts that legacy. "Throughout 2020/21, UQ Art Museum's creative program Union is considering how people can come together and think through ideas via the lens of common purpose and collective action," she said. " DEMOS is the perfect vehicle for us to do that conceptually - to contemplate how we inhabit different spaces and architectures in our 2020 context, and how we make safe community spaces from a social distance that create sites of human exchange - whether it's conversations, meetings, demonstrations or protests. "We're excited to be working with Andreas and to be the first Australian institution to commission this body of work that's been shown at a number of significant international venues, particularly as it encourages campus engagement." UQ Art Museum Director Dr Campbell Gray said the colour of Angelidakis's work commissioned for the UQ Art Museum is Australian sandstone and reflects the sandstone synonymous with UQ.